You may have not heard of Matchess before, but chances are you’ve listening to music from Whitney Johnson for a while now. She’s accumulated some impressive credits playing with her like-minded Chicago neighbors Ryley Walker, Circuit Des Yeux, and Bichin Bajas, not to mention her band Verma who have got a few records out on Trouble in Mind. Meanwhile, Johnson has been releasing a steady stream of solo work under the alias Matchess: Seraphasta was released in 2013 on highly respected tape label Digitalis and was then reissued by Trouble in Mind, who also put our her second record Somnaphoria. Just this past May, she switched to Austin label Monofonus Press for her latest album, The Rafter. Matchess combines vocals, synthesizers, tape loops, and live viola into textural, ambient songs. Her compositions are anything but grounded, sounding more like something sighted or visited in outer space. Among other appearances at Northside Festival, including one with Grouper, Matchess joined in for the Monofonus Press showcase, giving us all a respite from the heavier fare with her quieter, but challenging, set.
I recorded this set from our usual location in Union Pool with a board feed from FOH Robert. The sound is excellent. Enjoy!
Download: [MP3/FLAC]
Stream:
Matchess
2016-06-10
Union Pool
Brooklyn, NY
Exclusive download hosted at nyctaper.com
Recorded and produced by Eric PH
Soundboard (engineer: Robert) + AKG C480B/CK63 (PAS) > Roland R-26 > 2xWAV (24/48) > Adobe Audition CC (align, compression, mixdown, normalize, fades) + Izotope Ozone 5 (EQ) > Audacity 2.0.5 (downsample, dither, tracking, tagging) > FLAC (16/44.1, level 8)
Tracks [24:42]
01. Mi Ti Ra
02. The Need of the Greatest Wealth
03. But Their Chains
04. Aweh
05. Melts Into Air
• Buy The Rafter via Monofonus Press
• • Buy Somnaphoria via Trouble in Mind
• • • Check tour dates, etc. at the Matchess Tumblr
damn talky audience!
Fortunately the crowd quiets down quickly after a couple minutes.